The Adsorption of Ochratoxin A by Lactobacillus Species

The objective of this study was to examine ochratoxin A (OTA) binding by three lactic acid bacteria (LAB) species: Lactobacillus plantarum, L. brevis, and L. sanfranciscensis. Experiments were conducted using MRS medium and PBS buffer contaminated with 1000 ng/mL OTA and inoculated with live or thermally inactivated bacterial biomass at a concentration of 1 or 5 mg dry weight/mL. It was found that, depending on the strain and biomass density, live bacterial cells reduced OTA content by 16.9% to 35% in MRS medium and by 14.8% to 26.4% in PBS after 24 h of contact. OTA binding was higher in the case of thermally inactivated bacterial biomass (46.2% to 59.8%). The process is very rapid: OTA was removed from PBS as early as after 30 min of contact. The binding of the toxin by cells was partially reversible under the treatment by water and 1 M HCl. The results show that OTA is adsorbed to the surface structures of the cell wall, which is promoted not only by the hydrophobic properties of the cell wall, but also by electron donor-acceptor and Lewis acid-base interactions.